Busy busy busy!

It's only Wednesday and I've already had an incredibly busy week!! Monday was the first day that I got to help in my elementary class. It was so much fun and the kids were so adorable! It definitely was challenging and I realized that my Spanish speaking skills are not great, ha. I had a really hard time understanding what the kids were saying--I can usually understand when people speak Spanish to me, but the 3, 4, & 5 year olds were very difficult to understand. It might have to do with the fact that they don't fully grasp the concept that I don't speak Spanish. Thank goodness the teacher, Lola, is incredibly sweet and understanding. The first thing that one of the little girls in the class said to me was..."Como te llamas" [What's your name?] "Carly"--"Tu tienes un novio?" [Do you have a boyfriend?] I couldn't help but just laugh! There are days when I doubt my decision to be an elementary ed major, but instances like that help me to realize that I love children and I know that teaching is what will truly make me happy. I helped in the class for an hour. I am supposed to only speak to the students in English--we played games that involved me teaching colors. I was really surprised at how well the kids knew their colors in English. I also used expressions like "listen" and "very good". The last 15 or so minutes of class I read the kids a book in English "I Love Colours".

Monday night I had another new experience--my Spanish dance class. I absolutely LOVED it, it was so much fun! We met Luis, our program director, at Mercado Central [Central Market] and he walked us to the class. We arrived at some apartment...I was confused as to what we were doing. Our class was actually in some guys apartment. He had a bright blue dance studio in his apartment. The room was small for the number of students, but it worked out fine. The whole class is taught in Spanish so it was difficult to understand what he was saying, but it just forced me to have to learn the steps better. I was worried at first because a lot of the girls in my class seemed like they'd be really good at dancing--it turned out to be the complete opposite. It was absolutely hilarious!! There was one girl in my class who was having the hardest time and we couldn't help but laugh, especially when the instructor grabbed her and tried to twirl her around the room. The class is 5 weeks long and twice a week, I'm can't wait for my second class tonight!

Tuesday morning I met a friend, Angela, and we went for a run. It was probably the best run that I've ever been on! First of all, I haven't been running in a while because my knee was bothering me everytime I would run--so it just felt great to run again. Secondly, the city was incredibly quiet because it was 6:45 in the morning. There wasn't traffic or noise, it was just peaceful. The best part of the run though was definitely the location. Angela and I met at Mercado Central and ran towards the beach. We started our at the harbor--the water was so black and still, it was as though the boats were seated upon a glass mirror. From the harbor we ran up the length of the "Explanada". The sun hadn't risen at this point so the sandy beach was a sharp contrast to the dark water. Every few seconds the white waves would break at near the shore. On our way back the view was even better, the sun was starting to rise. The sky was an orange background to the ocean. We ran to the end of the pier and back toward our apartments. This time the castle was our view--I usually hate seagulls but they looked so beautiful as they circled the castle against the dark blue sky. I think that my like for running is starting to turn into love...

I helped in Lola's class again, this time with kids a few years older. We did basically the same thing, worked with colors. It was also very fun. I had my cooking class last night as well--we made Patatas a la Riojana--basically a potato soup with chorizo, red and green pepper, onion, and garlic; Merluza en Salsa Verde [Hake in Green Sauce]; and Churros. The Merluza en Salsa Verde was really delicious--it was more of a white wine sauce then a salsa verde. The Patatas a la Riojana was just ok..the chorizo made the broth of the soup really oily. I'm not a huge fan of churros so they were just ok.

Friday is a USAC holiday so I don't have class!! I am going to Sevilla for the weekend with a couple of my friends, I can't wait! I'll be sure the post pictures when I get back on Sunday!